Trump, Kim to meet in Singapore on June 12

US President Donald Trump has high hopes of "doing something very meaningful" to curtail North Korea's nuclear ambitions at a summit in Singapore next month, after Pyongyang smoothed the way for talks by freeing three American prisoners.

The date and location of the first-ever meeting of a sitting US president and a North Korean leader was announced by Trump on Twitter.

"The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump wrote.

He made the announcement after a US government aircraft touched down at Joint Base Andrews near Washington carrying the Americans who were released by North Korea in a move to clear the way for the bilateral summit.

The two men exchanged fiery rhetoric last year over North Korea's attempts to build a nuclear weapon that could reach the United States. But tensions have since eased, starting around the time of the North's participation in the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February.

Trump greeted the freed Americans in the early-morning hours. He said on their arrival that he believed Kim, who has led North Korea for seven years and is believed to be in his mid-30s, wanted to bring his country "into the real world."

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"I think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful," Trump said. "My proudest achievement will be - this is part of it - when we denuclearise that entire peninsula."

New US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has visited Pyongyang twice in recent weeks - once as head of the CIA - but there has been no sign that he cleared up the central question of whether North Korea will be willing to bargain away nuclear weapons that its rulers have long seen as crucial to their survival.

Trump is embarking on the meeting with Kim after sending shockwaves through the world on Tuesday by announcing the United States was pulling out of a 2015 accord imposing international oversight of Iran's nuclear program.

The move raised questions over whether North Korea might now be less inclined to negotiate its own nuclear deal with Washington.

Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the US Senate, warned Trump against going too far, too fast in Singapore. The Republican president, Schumer said, should insist upon strong, verifiable disarmament commitments from North Korea.

"I worry that this president, in his eagerness to strike a deal and get the acclaim and a photo op, will strike a quick one and a bad one, not a strong one, not a lasting one," Schumer said.

The choice of Singapore will put the summit on friendly turf for Trump, as the island nation is a strong US ally and the US Navy frequently visits its port.

US officials had looked at several sites other than Singapore for the historic meeting.

Trump's own preference was for the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas, but aides argued it would look too much like Trump going to Kim's turf.